Semiconductor device fabrication includes many different processes, each process having associated cycle-time and cost requirements. It is a continued desire to reduce cost and cycle-time in device fabrication. Further, it is a continued desire to reduce the number of defects and improve yields in semiconductor fabrication. One area for improvement is the fabrication of metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) devices having a high dielectric constant (high-k) metal gate. The present disclosure provides improvements that relate to the fabrication of such devices.